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Trust This.
By Joseph E. Seagle, Esq. ● Mar 31, 2023
Smart Brevity® count: 3.5 mins...902 words
👋 Happy birthday 🥳 … to us! 🎉 This weekly newsletter started one year ago, the last time we vacationed in St. John. Over the past year, we’ve gone through many changes, including our name and focus. Through it all, our readers have been there with us, and we appreciate all of you and your feedback. Here’s to another year ahead 🥂.
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1 big thing: Live Local becomes law
Photo: Breno Assis
On Wednesday, the governor signed the “Live Local” bill, creating a law to make building affordable housing in Florida easier and more profitable.
Why it matters: Estimates are that Florida needs 440,000 additional affordable homes for workforce housing. This bipartisan law is expected to help create 25,000 of those units over the next 10 years.
Yes, but: “Affordable” in Orange County translates to $1,867.00 monthly for a one-bedroom apartment.
By the numbers: Last year, the Legislature allocated $362.7 million for affordable housing. The new law allocates $711 million.
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$252 million is earmarked for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program;
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$150 million a year goes to the State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program; and
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$100 million funnels to the Hometown Heroes program for teachers, firemen, and police officers buying homes.
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It funds the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund for affordable housing assistance. Legislators raided the fund for decades until they passed a law prohibiting such raids two years ago.
The law preempts local zoning regulations that may make it harder to build housing in industrial and retail-zoned areas in an attempt to repurpose warehouses and malls into housing.
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Public hearings and notices will no longer be required to change the use of these properties in areas where industrial uses are prevalent.
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The Legislature granted additional power to the Governor to approve or disapprove funding for infrastructure projects related to affordable housing.
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Finally, it prohibits local rent control ordinances, preempting citizens from voting for measures as they did by 58.8% in Orange County last year.
What’s next: House Bill 1417 is likely to pass. This bill will prevent local governments from passing ordinances that define or communicate tenants’ rights.
The bottom line: Affordable housing (along with education, healthcare, and property insurance) is one of Florida’s most critical issues. This new bipartisan law’s funding and changes are a good start toward addressing this issue.
Go deeper: Orlando Sentinel
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2. Floridians squeezed on insurance
Past Orlando tornado damage.
Photo: Mick Haupt
Allstate and Citizens Insurance have both announced rate increases.
Why it matters: Both the private and taxpayer-backed companies are attempting to force customers to go elsewhere for their property casualty insurance.
By the numbers: AllState’s rates will increase by as much as 54% for condominiums, while Citizens agreed to an average 14.2% increase in rates.
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Allstate stopped writing new policies in Florida and plans to drop another 33,000 customers over the next year.
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In 2018, Citizens had 427,397 policies. As of March 17, the corporation had 1,209,713 policies.
Yes, but: Citizens customers who rely on that company’s coverage of their primary residence are protected from major premium increases by statute. So the new rates will apply mostly to new customers.
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Many homeowners were expected to flee to Citizens since so many insurers have left the state, but the Legislature and Governor have made it clear that they want Citizens to be the insurer of last resort, thus the premium increases at Citizens too.
What’s next: Citizens plans to require all new policyholders also to obtain flood insurance.
The bottom line: Private insurers are leaving or dropping customers, and the insurer of “last resort” is trying to push customers to private insurers that don’t want them or don’t exist.
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Photo: Priscilla Du Preez
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Million-dollar homes on the market are declining thanks to higher interest rates. The M Report
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Sunbelt areas, including some in Florida, are hotspots for homebuyers looking to relocate. DSNews
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A spike in multi-family housing supply coupled with a drop in demand and higher interest rates could mean bad news for the multi-family housing market. Bigger Pockets
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House flipping increased in 2022, but profits were down. National Mortgage Professional
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FinCEN has issued its initial guidance on implementing the Beneficial Ownership Information reporting requirements that go into effect at the start of 2024. Anyone who handles real estate closings must be familiar with the new regulations. FinCEN
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In a follow-up to a post we made last fall about AI algorithms that set rental rates, US Senators had questions about it for the Justice Department, and the responses were alarming. ProPublica
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Photo: Joe Seagle
Speaking of St. John, we’re back again on our annual vacation here this week. This photo is of the remains of the windmill at Annaberg Plantation that used to sit on a mountaintop overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The bees and vegetation are reclaiming the area, but visiting is always intriguing.
To get to these ruins, park at the bottom of the mountain and run up that hill. It’s a long and winding path, but the view at the top makes the huffing and puffing worth it.
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We hope you found this helpful — any feedback is appreciated and can be shared by hitting reply or using the feedback feature below.
Be on the lookout for our next issue! 👋
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